Sound in an Empty Space
by Girlaremo
Summary: Alfred Jones has accomplished his dream: Space. He and his fellow team members have made it past the Asteroid Belt, and are making history as the ones who got as far as Jupiter. When things go wrong and an asteroid shatters the Scout Shuttle, leaving Alfred as the lone survivor in space, what does one do? Crank up the music and wait for the air to run out. pairings inside/late
1. Chapter 1

The year was 2024, and everything was great. A cure for cancer had been found and the world had been relieved of its debt. Peace was being talked out and thought out through countless meetings and negotiations. The space foundation had managed to get probes past Pluto, and now there was a shuttle near Jupiter. An international team was staying in the Scout Shuttle was in orbit around Saturn's moons, and it was quite enjoyable…Save for the slightly too loud American Astronaut named Alfred Fitzgerald Jones. Through the zero gravity he went, like a torpedo—Laughing and being giddy all over the place.

If you saw a flash of white down the platinum grey 'halls', it was Alfred or a rare white ore-based meteorite that had made its way into the living areas. The only time he was quiet was when he was asleep, and he was filled to the brim with excitement. He looked like a poster-child for an old vintage radio company with blonde hair, blue eyes and an indescribable random cowlick that protruded from the part in his hair and the constant electric blue ear buds that were either slung over his shoulder or jammed in his ears.

Music, food, Anya, and being in space were the things that meant most to him, and he valued them more than anything.

He had any song one could think of, and in any language. If not for the limit of data that could be held on his vintage IPod (it was about 14 years old, and it took a lot to get an old IPod touch.), he would have it all.

Alfred loved his food, and he was usually on the run, so it was usually McDonalds as his choice of food. Sure, he could cook...but he always moved, so it evened things out. When he did have to eat healthy, he was willing to do so. The rare sit-down meal was actually quite soothing, and when he got off the Scout Shuttle, he'd go home and get groceries and cook for himself along with the help of his Russian girlfriend Anya.

He had met Anya while studying physics, and she had taken to him rather quickly. She, being quiet and a little on the 'scary plotting Russian' side, loved Alfred's 'I wanna be a hero, so lemme help ya' demeanor. They had been going out for three years, and he was actually thinking about asking her the question. They spent an hour talking on the phone, thanks to lightning fast communications via Skype. How they made it out to Jupiter, it was beyond Alfred, but he loved seeing Anya. So much. Almost as much as seeing space in all its glory.

Besides his dream of being a true and utter hero, Alfred had always wanted to be an astronaut, and go farther than any man had ever. From day one of 'training' (which started on the roof of his father's garage) and to the last stitch on his forehead, he wanted to be up in the wide blue yonder.

In high school, he took all the physics and math classes he could. He did engineering and building, whatever he could do to get him maybe even an inch closer to being part of NASA's crew. And, eventually, he got it. At the young age of twenty-three, he got a letter in the mail and a plane ticket to Florida saying he was expected to be in training at five AM.

One could only imagine his 'freak out' when he got the manila envelope.

MONDAY, JANUARY 18TH. 08:00

SPACE WALK-005

"Okay, we're going on a space walk, and I'm not letting you wander off again, alright?" James Jackson, the crew leader sighed, watching as Alfred suited up in his eager way. They had managed to create a suit that was thin (Like the ones they used on the moon—they could have been thicker.), but warm enough to use far, far away from the sun. "I don't care if you see a…what did you say you saw?"

"I thought I saw an unidentified flying object." He said simply, fixing his earpiece, and cramming an ear bud into his other ear.

"Do you have to bring your IPod? I really don't like it when you blare Skillet, Al." Maria, an older astronaut sighed. She had been to Mars for the first time, and she was well versed in what she did. "And that one band you play is out, too."

"Come on, you know you love Queen." He muttered, shuffling through his playlist from inside his suit. Somehow, he managed to slip his arm out of his suit and was playing with his IPod, and it annoyed and baffled the others. "Okay, we'll play pop music from…" He stuck out his tongue, trying to find the date. "…Twenty-twelve."

"_Old~_" Maxwell, the technician and overseer chimed, chuckling a bit. "You kids…I can't understand how you can like that stuff."

They bantered on like that for a while, ending up in the three of them heading outside. The weightless air was inevitably calm, and all was quiet save for the sound of Alfred's music through the receivers.

One of the connector cables under the panels of the station had come loose, and it was their job to fix it. "We'll be in and out in a jiff." Jackson said, pulling along the bag full of tools. "Maria, you stay here with me, and Al…" He sighed, looking back at Alfred. Even though he hated to say it, he would be letting Alfred almost be a free agent again this time. "You be the lookout, since you've got the jetpack."

"Right-o…" Alfred replied, propelling himself out a ways and started looking around. Everything was quiet. Everything was still. Along with music and the chatter from Maria and James worked. Humming along to some Hot Chell Ray, he scanned the area. He wished he had his glasses, but it was better that he got his vision corrected than wear glasses up in space. He could see his reflection in the helmet, still like a kid even after all these years. Cheeks were still slightly pudgy, eyes bright, and that 'babyish pout' that Anya thought was the most adorable thing.

"Jonesey, could you please stop humming to yourself?" Maria's voice crackled over the transmitter.

"Sorry. Just thinking." He answered, looking around for any more things in the distance. Seeing something, Alfred squinted. "Um, guys? Something's on the horizon…" It was getting closer, picking up speed as the gravity increased. They were near one of the moons, but…maybe they weren't far away enough for it to draw in _asteroids. _"We've got projectiles, guys!"

"What…?" James crackled, the transmitter going in and out. Damn! He looked behind him, giving Alfred a confused look. "I—can't—ear—you."

'_Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit.' _Alfred spat, waving his arms and pointing. They only quickly got the idea, but then it was too late.

"Maxwell! Move the s—"

The space rocks tore though the shuttle like it was paper, sending bits and chunks everywhere. Alfred braced himself as they flew by, a couple striking him and compromised his jet pack. One, two, then a third one sent it to smithereens, and it was offset enough that the gravitational pull of the moon near them pulled it in. It may not have been much, but…everyone was gone now.

How did he survive?! He had watched his friends, his 'family' out here die…! His IPod shuffled songs again. So many songs, it had to be one of the happy ones, didn't it?

"I…Guys?" He said, the world was quiet. He didn't have much oxygen left, fear rising up in his chest, listening as the receiver was quiet. "G-Guys…!" Alfred's voice cracked, he was alone. He tried to think. He was too far away to do anything. They hadn't thought there would be flying rocks out this far, but luck willed it that there were. So, doing what he did best, he cranked his music up and just floated there, waiting for his oxygen to run out, while playing one of the acoustic versions of Fall Out Boy.

_I'm gonna make you bend and break (it sent you to me without wings)  
Say a prayer, but let the good times roll  
In case God doesn't show (let the good times roll, let the good times roll)  
And I want these words to make things right  
But it's the wrongs that makes the words come to life  
Who does he think he is (If that's all you got, you'd better put your fingers back to the keys)_

Alfred listened as he let himself drift off, taking deep breaths and letting the glass fog up. _'Whelp. Here I go…' _He thought, not realizing his music would cause such a distraction to others.

~x~

"What is that noise…?" The sound was odd to their standards. "It's…not a transmission."

"Is it a distress signal?" Another asked, coming over to listen. "I hear," He paused, furrowing his larger brows. "What is that?"

"I don't know, that's why I asked!" She grouched, looking at her superior. "Do you think we should get a scout and find the source?"

"We'll do that…" He nodded. "Kingsley, Yao, Williams—Go get the scouting ship ready, you three are going to scout for that sound. You'll be able to pick it up on sub-channel 3.3."

"A-Alright!" A tawny blonde chirped, stumbling to get out of his seat and back to the ship's hangar along with a couple others. He had one annoying curl that sprung from his head, and he looked gawky in the mandatory grey Private uniform.

There were three ranks you could be in, Private, Major and General. Some ranks had classes, where you could work your way up and down the scale to different ranks. Most on the ship were Privates of varying classes, and were usually wearing a pale and dingy grey. Majors, which were at least five in number, were usually in a bright blue, and then Generals wore either white or green, so they could be spotted quickly if they needed anything. But, if the prince of the Royal Armada would force his Generals to wear white when he was around, so that he could take up the green uniform.

The uniform itself was usually a simple jacket, much like a trench coat, minus the 'trench' part of it, topped with black boots (Some got to wear mecha boots because they were in the 'Mecha-Brigade' as they called it.) and white or black breeches, depending on who you are.

As the three wandered out to the hangar, a couple talked. Williams—frist name Matthew—and Wang Yao talked on the way down, Kyle Kingsley followed behind them in his blue uniform.

"I can't believe I'm going on my first scouting mission…" Matthew looked flustered, looking at everything as if it was some sort of monster contraption. "It's not dangerous, is it? I'm not going to die when I'm out there, right? C-Cause I've got family at home and-!"

"Relax," Yao rolled his eyes, standing a little shorter than Matthew, and even shorter compared to the rough-looking Kyle. "You'll be fine. What are you, a Private-Grunt?"

"Y-Yeah…I've only been here for three months." The nervous teen frowned, pushing up his glasses. Yao himself was a Private-Alpha, close to becoming a Major."What about it?"

"You can tell you're really green around the edges." Kyle ran a hand through his hair, then continued to rub his nose. A long, wide scar ran over the bridge of his nose, the angry pink skin contrasted with the darker tan of the rest of him. He had bushier eyebrows, and he spoke with some sort of foreign accent found in only some places of Arangon.

"Try 'Green all the way through'." Yao muttered, brushing past Matthew to punch in a code for the door to the hangar. "Go ahead and get yourself a headset and calibrate the transmitter, alright?"

"A-Alright!" His curl bobbed on his head as he was directed to do so, pulling out three of the headsets and headed to the small scout ship.

"He's so new. It's funny to watch him." Kyle rolled his eyes, a smile gracing his face. "'Minds me of m'self."

"You're talking like the unintelligent human you are…" Yao muttered. It had always been a joke that humans were stupid, and some actually made it to Arangon.

"Oi, I'm not!"

"I got the communications set up, Major Fernandez said we're all good to go when we need to!" Matthew called, smiling a wide sweet smile.

"Elders first, Yao." Kyle mocked, making a small gesture for him to go. He looked older than Yao, but the short man was older than all of them by many years.

"Monkies last." He huffed, stepping forward and climbing in as he took a headset and popped it in his ear as Kyle did the same behind him, taking the seat in the upper back and getting himself situated. "Alright, Scout No-3351, requesting permission to go out."

'_Permission granted, opening the hatch._'

In a quick few moments, there was a loud beeping, and the runway below them glowed, showing them the way out. Sure, Yao knew this well, but Matthew was sitting there in awe as they quickly started the ship's maintenance check.

"Woah, this is so cool…" Matthew whispered.

"Gets even better." Yao sighed, pulling a lever and quickly jolting them out of the hangar. They were going at least warp speed, the dusty blonde was pushed up against his seat, trying to get used to the force against him. Yao glanced at him, rolling his eyes. "Newbie."

"Oh, you were like that at one point, mate."

"I-I think I'm gonna lose my lunch…"

"Just hang on, we're almost in the area of the noise…" Yao switched on the transmitter, the odd sound coming in as they jumped through space. "It's getting louder…Near Neptune maybe?"

"A little closer…Jupiter." The words suddenly came out clearer, as if the magic word had just set it off.

…

_What about the world today?_

_What about the place we call home?_

_We've never been so many,_

_We've never been so alone._

…_._

The noise went on, just another foreign noise they didn't understand.

"Holy…" The ship slowed, and the wreckage was found. Bits and chips of metal were suspended in the air, anything that was organic was frozen. Matthew's eyes darted all around, trying to take this all in. He was shaken already, and they hadn't gotten to the 'best' of it. "What happened here?"

"Did someone get struck? I thought everyone was supposed to have meteor shields…" Kyle scanned the area over the screens around his seat. His fingers worked quickly, panning the area. A clunky white mass caught his eye, it was larger than all the rest of the debris. "What's that…?"

"I'll pan it out." Yao enlarged the camera picture, zooming in just as it made a half-turn, exposing the front. A sleeping face—serene and calm, but something was wrong. He was blue in the cheeks. "Lǎo tiān!" Yao spat, eyes wide.

"Get it! Pick it up!" Kyle ordered.

"What if it's dead? What then?"

"Just pick it up." He growled, making Matthew scurry for the controls to the mechanical arms. "I'm sure it's alive."

~x~

The next sound Alfred heard was that of his suit being ripped off him, the hiss of the last bits of air rushing past his face. Ear buds were jerked out of his ears, and the muffled voices finally came to his ears.

"…See that? He's breathing! Get the wrist-monitor and check his heart!"

"He's probably brain dead though!"

"Guys, I don't think there are any other survivors."

That was right. He was the only survivor. He was the only one left from that freak accident, all his friends were dead, and he was never going home. For now, Alfred tried to open his eyes, feeling a pressure on one of his wrists.

"Vital signs are getting better…He's freezing…" An oriental-looking man was hovering over him, brown eyes curious, yet holding an aged seriousness only elders could. At the sight of Alfred opening his eyes, he snapped in his face. "Hey, look here."

"Holy cow…Not many Arangonians have that color of eyes…" A man with an Australian accent noted, blinking a couple times. "Those are bright…"

"Maybe he's not Arangonian." Another offered, a little farther away. Alfred turned to look at him, but had his head moved back to look at the Oriental, who was shining a penlight in his eyes.

"Give him some air, we're heading back to base." He said, looking back to Alfred. "Just relax, you're going to be fine…"

"Mm…" Alfred drifted off, hearing all the foreign voices. Through the blurry slits of his vision, he could see they put an oxygen mask on him, refilling his tired and almost empty lungs. Then he remembered. After the space walk, he was going ot make a call to Anya. She had been waiting for months for the call, and it took just as long to schedule. 'I'll wait until then and then we'll get together and talk to you…I'll really, really, really miss you, _lyubimogo_.' She had said.

'I'll talk to you until they pull me away, okay? I _super-duper promise._' He had said that with a wide smile and a quick kiss before he left. Now all he could say was:

'…_Anya, I'm sorry.'_

~x~

~Back on Earth….

"…Scout, are you there?" The people were befuddled, confused, and terrified of what happened. The air was quiet as the static filled the room. They had suddenly lost communications with Scout, and it wasn't going well. "Damn!"

"What happened, do you think? Everything's gone, and—" Someone stopped, eyes widening. "We sent them out during asteroid season, I think…"

"We what?!"

"It was an honest mistake, the season is very short, but it still happens! We sent them on suicide!"

"What about their families? We told them they'd come back safe, happy and…" He trailed off, eyes widening. "…They were supposed to make a call today."

"_Shit._" Devon Collins—The man in charge of this whole thing paced around, trying to think about how he'd phrase this to everyone. "_Shit, shit, damn…_" Turning to the screen, he frowned. They had retired Hubble many years ago, but they had sent out a new one, named Double. Cheesy name pun, but it worked. It had been taking pictures every few minutes, zooming far in and checking on Scout every so often. Pictures confirmed that it was indeed, gone. "Let's take a break, everyone out."

All thirty of the Huston Base Members filed out, upset about the loss of the shuttle. Devon leaned on one of the tables, looking up at the screen. "We sent them out during the most dangerous time of year…" He groaned, plopping down in a chair. "Everyone's going to call me a murderer, put my face on _People Magazine…_" He looked back up, eyeing the screen again. Wait, something was off. What was that? Floating there? Devon zoomed in, the pixels of the computer smoothing out the image. _"Jones?_" He clicked on the small box on the bottom of the screen, checking his receiver. It still blinked, sending an orange distress signal. It meant that his suit had been compromised, and oxygen was low. "You poor son of a…" The status changed, and it completely went dead, and another picture popped up on the screen. A small-unknown aircraft had come into the frame, and the lone spaceman was gone.

He blinked in surprise, saving the images to the zip drive on the computer and hightailed it to his car, pulling out his phone and calling Washington. "H-Hello? Ander? Smith? We have a predicament…" He breathed, grabbing his car keys as well. "What? It's friggen Scout! It's gone, and there are disturbing pictures here! Aliens!"


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Reviews would be nice…so I know I'm doing well or whatever. I haven't been having someone beta for me…and I know there's mistakes. Pm me if you'd be willing to beta! _

_Sorry if I'm butchering Sweden's speech. The voice cameo…Oh God._

_Pairings: Implied RusAme, SuFin, possible Franada or MapleRoo (CanAustralia) and eventual UsUk, because Everyone Loves UsUk. _

~HMS Traveler

"Y-Your majesty, what are you doing here?"

He sighed, hearing everyone sputter and become flustered. He just walked down the corridors with his arms folded behind his back, back straight as if he were holding books. He did at one point, but that was a long time ago. "I came to check up on my subjects. If a prince can't do that, what's the need for them?" He said in a slightly irritated tone. "I heard you had an extra body?"

"Prince Arthur, I'm sorry but he's in the medic ward, a—"

Without further notice, he turned back around and left the young private was confused. "I'll be in the medic ward, make sure they know I'm coming."

"B-But…"

Everything was pristine, just the way he liked it. The walls were white, the carpet was black, and there were straightforward overhead lights built in the ceilings. Just like his ships, he was (trying to be) perfect as well. The only problem was his blonde hair, which needed constant attention to when he slicked it back. There were always a few strands that stood out, and it set him into a tizzy trying to find a reflective surface to fix it.

He found the medic ward, quickly punching in the key code in and strolling past the door when it opened. "Where is it? Let me see it."

"Oh, Prince Arthur, it's nice to see you!" Smiled one of the medics, a blonde aide with a white beret-like hat on. He bowed graciously, still grinning when he rose up. "He's resting now, but we've checked him, and you wouldn't believe it, but he's human!"

"What's a human doing out past Saturn?" Arthur asked, furrowing his brows only slightly, keeping his irritated face.

"I asked Berwald the same thing, and he didn't know either. He's extremely fit, though." The blonde turned and waved him along to the beds, where usually the Medics slept. Arthur couldn't believe his eyes, seeing the body there in a pale white shirt and similar pants.

"It's been forever since we've seen a human…they're so stupid, I'm surprised they haven't killed themselves." He said, covering up his surprise. "What do they call him, Tino?"

"We've looked through all his things, and I guess the other humans called him Alfred Fitzgerald Jones." Tino said, giving a thoughtful look to the sleeping man. "We also found a few personal artifacts, including a couple pictures, an odd necklace and this…sound maker. It's how the team of three found him. It gave off this weird sound, and it lead them to him."

"Maybe it's a distress signal of sorts?"

"That's what Ber wondered, but I'm not sure that it is. Some of the sounds are really nice!" Tino went over to the wall lined with drawers, and pulled out the strange device. "The internal battery went dead, but I'm sure that there's an easy way to re-charge it."

"Simple design, shiny…I like it." Arthur blinked, eyes glittering in amusement. "When do you think he will wake?"

"Any time now, but he's still not used to anything. We're going to have to let him get used to all of us first, then we can ask questions. We're just lucky that he didn't become too traumatized." The smaller man warned. "It's nice of you to check on him, your majesty."

"I just wanted to see what space trash boarded my ship." He spat quickly, looking away. "When he's up, make sure you dispose of the sheets instead of cleaning them. I don't want everything to smell like human." '_But that human smells kind of good…' _

~X~

(Later in the day)

"Berwald, I realize that we're married and everything but still…We're at work."

This voice was new, nothing like the Australian and the others. "Al'rght, m'by later th'n?" This voice was odd. He thought he had heard something like this before, but… Ah, it was probably just because he was muttering.

"Later, Ber…"

Alfred opened his eyes, just late enough to see just the two standing there. "Oh, hey…" He said, coming closer to the bed and crouching down next to him. "How are you? Do you feel well?" Alfred just looked dumbly at him, blinking his eyes. "Wow, Kyle was right, he does have bright eyes…"

"Hm?" The taller man looked from a distance, slight surprise on his stone-like expression. "Int'rsting."

"Who…What…?" Alfred managed to get out, rubbing his eyes. His contacts were dry, and they were bound to come out. "Where am…?"

"You're on the HMS Traveler in the Medical Ward." He said with a even tone and a smile. "My name is Tino and the man behind me is named Berwald. He doesn't talk much, and he's difficult to understand sometimes."

The American nodded. "Alfred…"

"It's very nice to finally meet you, Alfred." Tino smiled, holing out a hand to him. Alfred weakly tried to make a handshake, but it turned out to be him just laying his hand on the others'. "You're still a little tired from everything that happened, right?"

"Yeah…" He nodded, the pictures of what happened flashed in his mind, all the terror welled up in his throat. Instead of getting up and freaking out, he just let out an enormous sigh and a waterfall of tears. "Th-They're all gone…"

"Shh…" Tino cooed, rubbing his shoulder. "Calm down, or you're going to make yourself sick." He got hiccups and sad sniffles in return, maybe this wasn't the best idea in the world. "Now, do you need anything?"

"U-Um…" Alfred stuttered, realizing how motherly Tino was. Sure, it was comforting, but it was also so feminine, it drove him back to think of Anya. "N-No…" He choked out, rubbing at his eyes. "But…I guess something to drink would be nice…"

"I'll get it for you, just stay here…" Tino smiled warmly, getting up and heading to the small refrigerator in the ward. He pulled out a bottle of what looked vaguely like grape Motrin, shaking it. "Don't worry about what this is, it'll help you feel a little better, alright?"

"Is it medicine?" He instantly blurted, furrowing his brows.

"No, it's actually just a protein drink. It'll also help your body functions come back down from their stressed levels. I mean, your blood pressure is high, and I'm sure you're not…_all regular…_" He said sheepishly, twisting off the cap and picking up a cup. Tino carefully poured out a good amount, helping Alfred to a sitting stance and handed him the cup. "You think you're alright to hold it yourself?"

"Yeah…I think so…" He nodded, gingerly taking it and looking at the substance. Tino's shirtsleeve dipped up, showing a small wrist tattoo. It looked similar to some of the Celtic things that Anya always wanted to get, but her brother always said 'no'. "What's that?"

"Oh, just my binding. We got ours when Berwald proposed." He smiled gently, pulling his sleeve up far enough to show Alfred. Right where his vein was there lay tattooed a date, and right above it was a blue heart. "Being bound to your lover is one of the most sincere and permanent ways of saying 'I love you forever'. You see, in the little heart-tattoo, there's a bit of genetic material from Berwald…He's got his on his wrist, but he likes to wear his watch over it…He told me every time he checks the time, he sees the little heart."

The idea was weird, but it was kind of…cute. "Oh…" Taking a sip of the drink, Alfred's face took a weird expression. It tasted like _crap_. "God, this stuff is terrible…!"

"Shhh! Don't let the anyone hear you…! It was the princes's idea, and his family members are the ones who put it through the Food and Drug Policies!"

"They could seriously torture someone with this…!" He took another drink, making his complaining a little unneeded.

"You know, I could just give you some water instead, right?" He asked, blinking a couple times in confusion as he downed the rest of the drink. _'Humans are so weird…'_

"I know, but…" He finished it off, making a revolted face. "That's just gross…"

"But you _drank it _anyways." Tino blinked, shaking his head. "I'm not going to even _try _to comprehend why."

"I've eaten worse. Try living on freeze-dried food for about a year." Alfred said, yawning widely.

"You still have that? We've been able…" Tino stopped himself, shaking his head. "Never mind. You'll just wonder why and how. We'll let you figure out yourself."

"Figure out what…?"

~X~

"Well, he's awake." Tino chimed, clocking out of his Medical Ward shift. A couple others were sitting in the break room, fighting over the last bits of coffee. (How they even had it out here was surprising, Alfred found out later.) "He's quite the attractive human, really."

"I'll make a note to see him again, then." Yao sighed, covered in grime after working on some of the mecha vehicles that were damaged in a raid. He was one of the only ones who did double duty as a mechanic and a crewmember.

The thing was, he was upset since pirates had been on the rise, and it was disturbing. They called themselves merciful, but they left a wake of destruction. "Either that or just glance. Didn't the human race die after two thousand twelve or something?"

"No, they just thought they'd die. They're weird creatures, aren't they?" Another said, this one came from Matthew, rummaging around the cooler for creamer and sweetener for his brew. "Kyle, did you finish off the creamer again?"

"Nope, you'd have to ask Ivan about that. He's got quite the sweet tooth if you ask me." Kyle sighed.

"Him and his sisters scare me." Toris sighed, joining the conversation. He had his hair pulled back-he just came back from the kitchen. "Dinner's going to be ready in a few, I'm just taking my break right now. You know how hard it is to cook when the oven's spurting sparks?"

"I imagine it's quite difficult." Tino blinked. "I thought you got it fixed?"

"_Ne. _It's still broke. Yao, you think you could look at it later after dinner? We've got the whole circuit shut off and waiting for you."

"Aiyah," He breathed, running a hand through his hair. "Maybe after I'm done getting the circuitry and connections done with the Prince's personal mecha. I don't know what he does, but he's got everything _fried_."

"Well, you know…he has his business that he does…" Matthew interjected, finally settling on milk for his half chilled cup. "We need more creamer…"

"It's in the store room…" Toris noted. "I'll be sure to bring some."

"But that doesn't explain why there's a tear in the receptors! Did he jam his leg in there too far or something? That stuff is expensive to buy, and if I were to make it myself, it would cost so much more!"

"Maybe he was just having a rough night." Kyle offered. "Or maybe he has a secret life we don't know about."

"Don't be silly, his majesty does no such thing…right?" Tino said quietly. A hushed silence came over the room, and it seemed to make sense…For only a split second.

"Either way, I'll be down later to fix the oven, Toris," Yao sighed. "Make sure Ivan isn't there. Or Natalia. They're both creepy, but I can deal with Katyushka."

"Alright, will do."

~X~

(Transmission: HMS Traveler to Home)

"Allistor, pick up your end of the call, git." Arthur growled, biting the skin on his thumb as the novelty sound of the ringer echoed through his chamber. The room was dark, and the only light that shone was the one from the giant wall screen. The call was finally picked up, a tired looking red-head was on the other end.

"Hello brother…what could you poss'bly want?" He sighed, looking at him with half-lidded sleepy eyes. "You do realize what time it is back home, right?"

"I'm aware, but I am here to tell you that we've run into a slight…predicament." Arthur kept his hands behind his back, looking at the image as if he were standing right in front of him. "We were on our way home when one of our technicians picked up a strange frequency. Scouts were sent out near Jupiter's moons, and we found wreckage and a survivor. It seems humans are still in existence."

"They survived? Even after we left? I thought they died." Allistor was suddenly interested, brows furrowed.

"They've been striving and continued to live. They've made it past the asteroid belt, and if they find us, we're looking at some sort of confrontation." He explained. "They're probably not too happy that we picked up their single survivor from the wreckage, but if they don't know, they'll find out. My men have seen many satellites and human-made telescopes looking out where the humans were."

The response from his brother was hindered, a quick hand ran through his firey hair. "I'll send some knights and—"

"To where? Earth? That's cr—" Arthur cut him off, then he was cut off as well.

"No, I'm sending some knights to _you_, so we can make sure that your little human space-man is alright so we can send him back home." Allistor snapped. "He's probably got important relations if he's been walking around our end of the kingdom. We can't let him see too much of Rona, otherwise he'll start to get attached. Arthur, we can't have another incident. Remember that one time?"

"…I don't know what you're talking about." He replied stiffly.

"The female aviator? Remember her? We tried to visit, but our wormhole technology was on the fritz?" Allistor's voice was solemn, almost without emotion. "People still don't know where she went, Arthur. They're wondering because we didn't bring her back home to them."

"It won't be like that. We…we'll make him forget before we leave, I promise. I'll do it myself if we have to." Arthur regained his firm voice, making Allistor smile slightly.

"That's a good brother of mine…now, I've got meetings in the morning and I'm not too happy that you woke me up. So, when you get back, I expect that you steer clear, okay?"

"I'll be kilometers away."

"Good boy. Mum and Dad would be proud. Goodnight, Arthur." The transmission was disconnected, leaving Arthur in the semi-dark room. He sauntered over to his chair and plopped in it, leaning his head past the back of it.

"What the bloody hell did I just agree to?" He didn't want to see the human go, and maybe he'd like to get to know h—Oh, what was he thinking? A man of Kirkland Royalty couldn't love some measly, disease-ridden human! It would cause so many problems, so many defects, and not to mention, humans don't live too long! Arthur easily had at least one hundred years on him and still aged slower than him. When Alfred was an old wrinkly mess, Arthur would still be fresh-faced and youthful. The sheer thought was revolting. "He probably loves some other human girl anyways…" Arthur muttered, sliding down. "Yes, that's probably it…He's going to have a human wedding with human guests, eat cake, have little human party, do little human things, have human children and live happily with his beautiful human family…" He laughed sadly to himself, a small smile on his lips. "…I've grown attached already."


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! _

_Did you see the SuFin there? _

_Allistor (Scot.) _

_Liam (North Ir.)_

_Owen (Wales)_

_Arthur (England)_

~X~

The idea of being in space and being completely grounded was extremely weird, having to retake a step or two to just to make sure he wasn't floating away. They looked at him oddly, having knowing the feeling of being on solid ground in space all their lives. "I can't believe you have all this technology…Just to keep you all down." Alfred said quietly, watching every time as his feet were in contact with the ground. "You can see everything outside, and you just know it's not home and…"

"You're going a little fast, you know…" Tino coached, making sure that Alfred was alright. He usually was supposed to take inventory now, but studying humans was more fun. "I don't think that's supposed to move like that…"

"What?" Alfred stopped, confused. "What do you mean?"

"This." Tino held his arm out, a small fracture from a long time ago allowed Alfred's arm bend a little more than it should. "Are all humans like this…?"

"It's just a previous injury, that's all." He said, taking his arm back carefully. "Haven't you ever broken an arm?"

"I haven't." The smaller man almost looked horrified, shaking his head as he drew back. "I…Your bones are calcium based, right?" Alfred nodded a yes, still confused. "Oh…We've got a different building block for our bones—Arbium. It's only a few steps away from Calcium, and it's just got a few 'tweaks'."

"And that means…?"

"We were human a long, long time ago, but our ancestors changed that. We're just 'super human', I guess." The look Alfred was giving him was somewhere between slight horror and surprise.

"But…You don't look anything different from me."

"That's the thing. I don't look it, but I am. _We _are. We're more complex. We're immune to more things. We don't get cancer anymore, and we don't hurt when we age. The only thing that can possibly take us would be a mortal injury, old age, or The Burning."

"The Burning?" Alfred asked, it was quickly explained to him as soon as he asked.

"It's a flesh disease that only a few know about. The Royal Armada was briefed about it before they started training, and it's terrible. Once you attain it, there's a zero chance of survival. Skin festers and rots, and the infected becomes a walking corpse. It's extremely painful, not to mention heart wrenching for any family and friends." Tino explained. "My youngest brother, Emil, he had it." Looking down, he quickly wiped away a tear. "It took days for doctors to find the right pain medication for him, but by then it was too late. He was already gone, and…" Tino accidentally let out a choked sob, making Alfred jump.

"Hey, are y—" The amount of sadness in Tino's eyes was almost too much, he looked like he was falling apart at the seams, just about ready to burst. It was all held together with a smile, as if it weren't happening.

"I'm fine, just…it's a little difficult. To have seen him crying all the time, writhing in pain as everything turned red. He looked like someone beat him, Alfred. Patches of skin were gone, everything bruised from the slightest touch, and that touch brought him hurting..." He gulped, trying to keep himself from crying. "But…I don't think I need to be crying now. He's in a better place, and he doesn't hurt. Berwald's family and my other brother, Lukas helped me through the most of it, I'm just lucky I have them."

"That's…That's good that you have someone." Alfred took a couple steps forward, continuing the walk.

"Do you have family?"

"I'm an only child, actually. I…" He didn't know if he should say 'used to' or 'have', but decided there would be a better approach. "My girlfriend, Anya, is waiting for me back home if I ever get there."

"Is she pretty?" Tino shot out, changing the subject from Earth.

"Gorgeous. But she's got two older brothers that are a little odd if you ask me." He chuckled, digging his hands in his pockets. A small metal object caught his attention suddenly, and as he pulled it out it he sighed. "I was going to propose as soon as I got home." A small pale blue stone sat in a bright silver ring, and it glinted in the light. "It's a polished moon stone that I got my hands on. It's one of a kind, specially made."

"It must have cost a fortune…" His eyes glinted, in pure awe of the small little ring. "Is that what you do to propose? Give your loved one precious gifts?"

"Some do, but others don't have any money to do anything, so they just offer their heart."

"…Can't you die without those?"

Alfred picked up his mistake, chuckling lightly. "It's a figure of speech, it's not literal. It just means they give all their feelings and love instead of a ring or something."

"Oh." He simply said, amused by the idea. "That's really cute, actually. Berwald just simply said to me 'L't's g't marri'd.'." The way he mimicked Berwald's tone was uncanny, he had spent that much time together.

"Wha'd he do after that?"

"He took me out to dinner and then we got our bindings and went to the Law Office and got our marriage license. It may have took three days for it to go through, but it was worth it." He smiled happily, remembering it all.

"Oh." The hall was still quiet, and maybe the slightest bit awkward. It was possibly because he was thinking of his own potential marriage, and it was just odd thinking that Tino was so wrapped up with Berwald. He figured out quickly that they were inseparable. "Well…That's…"

"It was just as we wanted it, and we're happier than ever…"

He supposed it was nice, to see that their culture wasn't much different from his. Sure the words were a little different and everyone kind of spoke literally, but that didn't mean it was bad, right?

~X~

"Sh-Shawh, just…!" Matthew groaned, trying to make sense of the strange sound maker. He was trying to recharge the batter to it, and it was old enough that he couldn't make sense of it. "Oh maple, I can't even…" He muttered, laying his head on his workbench. "I'm a terrible technician…"

"What's the matter with you?" Kyle sighed, trying to sleep for a few minutes.

"I can't figure out how to charge this, and it's really bothering me. I've got the battery here, and the adapter is hooked up to it. I've made a replica of the charging system, too but…" The quiet man sighed, pouting more. "I can't…"

"Did you ever think that it could be charged and you have to turn it on?"

He sat up, looking at the device. "Non, I didn't think of that," Matthew muttered, trying every which way to turn it on now. He finally got it, the noise bursting though the ear buds. "There it is…"

"Well, in the meantime…" Kyle rolled over on his bunk, snuggling into the thin bed sheets.

"This sounds really weird, I mean…People are actually making notes and pitches with their voices. I don't think _we _can do that…" He put the ear bud in his ear, fumbling to turn down the volume. "Wow…should we show this to the prince or just give it back to the human?"

"I don't know, I'm trying to sleep."

"Hey, he looks like me, too. I didn't notice that before…!" He blinked, finding out how to look through his pictures. Sure, he shouldn't have, but he was curious to find out how this noise making system worked. "He's got so many pictures on here…" Most of them were just snapshots, something that he could get while walking around. Others were of a girl with pale hair. "Woah, she's pretty…"

Kyle sprung up, thinking it was some sort of pin-up picture. Instead, it was Anya in her thick winter coat. "Oh. Sure, she's cute." He glanced at Matthew, his cheeks tinged pink. "Don't tell me you got a little crush on her, mate."

"What? No no no no~ It's nothing like that~" He said in a flustered tone, flipping through the pictures again. Most of them were of Anya, making him a little more flustered. "Well. I think we've had enough of that." He sighed, turning off the noisemaker and putting the device down.

"You're as red as a beet, Matt." Kyle stretched, chuckling to himself.

"Am not, I'm just…A little feverish…" He garbled out. "Yeah, feverish."

"Alright, sure, sure~ Just keep telling yourself that."

~X~

_Memory 001: The Kidnapping_

_The memory didn't have much color to it, since the whole thing was mostly black and white, save for a few bursts of color. The color of their eyes, the faint hues of hair and other things. _

"_Surround them all! Make sure the rebels don't escape!" The air was thick with problems and one wrong breath could choke them all up and ruin the plan. "They've got the prince, dammit!" _

"_Tch, that's all they can think about?" She tsk'd, glancing over her shoulder. The blonde royal was sitting in the back of the cart, trying to get out of his bindings. A gag was jammed in his mouth, making it impossible for him to speak. "What a gentleman, being so kind while we're kidnapping you." She pulled quickly on the reins, jerking the horses in the other direction. Arthur slid and hit the other side of the cart, the gag coming loose. "Lars, I thought I told you to hold him!"_

"_Bel, I can't do two things at a time…!" He yelled back, cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He was currently shooting at the guards to keep them back, and it wasn't working well. He should have brought his Materia Greatsword, because the tiny firearm he was using wasn't cutting it. "Stop driving like a freaking maniac!"_

_She ground the cart around, making them grind into the small alleyways. Arthur was close to falling out of the cart now, and his small frame wouldn't land well on the pavement. "Let me go, you wankers!" Being five, he couldn't come up with anything better, and this just earned him a swift whack to the head. _

"_Shut up, kid." Bella growled. They were almost in the free zone, but then their plans had to come to an end. One misfired shot from one of the guards caught Bella in the arm, making her jerk to the side and wreck the cart. Arthur went tumbling, crying and sputtering. He with his arms tied behind his back, he shakily pulled himself up, quieting his sobbing as his brother rode up on his horse. The duo kept on going until they were out of sight, leaving the Calvary to themselves. _

"_Arthur Ignatius Kirkland…" Allistor sighed, hopping off his horse. He was no more than thirteen at the time, looking down at his brother with his fiery green eyes alight. He had one of the highest ranks for his age, and it showed by the way he walked—Straight forward, no shrugging and not even a hint of a faltered step. "Did you have fun on your little joy ride?" _

"_I didn't. They were terrible drivers." Arthur looked down, not wanting to meet his brother's gaze. "And I got hit in the back of the head."_

"_You're lucky we caught them. The woman's probably going to bleed out…" Allistor mumbled, starting on freeing his brother. "Who were they?"_

"_They were a trio of mercenaries working for the Republic of Frence. I'm sure that that bastard Francis hired them."_

"_Hush. Mum wouldn't like you cursing like that, stupid." Allistor muttered, bopping him upside the head. It wasn't too hard, thanks to him already been smacked. A red line started to trickle down the side of his head from falling. Once free, Arthur tried to stop himself from hugging Allistor, and failed miserably. After a couple awkward moments, he backed away, wiping his nose and face. _

"_Sorry…" He muttered. "I wasn't scared, I just felt like hugging you." He lied, taking deep shaky breaths. _

"_Don't let it happen again, though. You can't show weakness, otherwise they'll know how to hunt and shoot you down." Allistor said in a low tone. "Now get on a horse, we're going home to clean you up, idiot."_

"_Okay…" Arthur nodded, letting one of the Paladins help him up. Though he was kind on some occasions, Allistor was a hard-faced child, having been raised in wartime. He didn't look much like the rest of them, since children's appearances were determined on how they were raised in their formative years. One could easily tell that Allistor was highly disciplined when war was around, then the behavior slackened for Liam and Owen, until Arthur came around and the war ended. Arthur was babied and secretly beaten by Allistor, jealous of his little brother. "I'll be sure to make sure I train a little more tonight if Mum and Dad will allow it."_

"_You'd better." He said quickly and sternly, shooting a glare in his direction. "Come on, before they start throwing a fit…"_

_End of Memory_

_A/N: I have suddenly found out that Fanficiton is blocked at my school. I will be updating whenever I can at home, which might not be often thanks to homework and actual work. But, in the meantime, have this chapter~ I'm happy to explain how Allistor and Arthur don't get along._

_I'm also happy to explain Peter the illegitimate child, who is adopted by our two favorite Nordics. _

_I'm sorry I killed Emil, by the way. No DenIce, or NorIce for this fic. _

…_I hinted at fem!RusCan, too. _


	4. Chapter 4

_Sorry I haven't been updating, vee. It's been a while because I haven't gotten to do much in my study halls (cause I'm a lazy cow. :I). But, I'll get this to you guys!_

…_Did I really just type 'vee'…?_

~X~

"…My Lord, we have an interference in the scanners." The intercom was loud in his tired ears, his eyes tried to focus on the screen in front of him.

"Hm, what?" He frowned, yawning widely. "Interference? This early?"

"Sir, it's midday already." This made Arthur groan, looking at the display screen groggily. From time to time it would flicker, and a dot on the farther east side would blink from time to time.

"Who is that?" He asked, poking the dot and looking at the information the crew had obtained.

"We are unsure. They are ignoring our transmissions, and are showing signs of violence. They've aimed their sonic cannons at us a—"

"Sonic cannons?" Not many people had that kind of artillery, and it usually had to be bought off the black market if a civilian wanted it. You had to know a way in and out. You had to be smart… "It's that bloody wanker pirate trio!"

At that moment, the whole ship rocked after being shot at, disarming their shields. Lights flickered, and the shock was just enough to jumble Arthur out of his chair. "D-Damn! Get the cannons back online, and if you bloody can't handle them yourselves, I'm going out there and taking care of it myself!" He yelled.

"Sir, the last time you took on the pirates, you were critically injured!" Matthew came on the line, worried expression on the screen. "I don't think Tino could patch you back up if you're dead!"

"Shut up." Arthur growled, pulling on his red mecha gear. The pants were slightly baggy, good for movement. The shirt was short sleeved, and the boots were his favorite. They were black, polished and ran to his knees. The keys to his mecha suit were slung around his neck as he walked out of there. "Get them shot down, dammit."

Meanwhile, Alfred had been thrown to the ground in an unruly manor, upsetting his already frustrated stomach from not eating breakfast. "What the…?" He muttered, sitting up on the floor. He had since gotten a room to himself, so he was alone. Red lights were flashing, and ruckus was going on outside. Alfred poked his head out the door and almost got beaten in by a taller man who seemed to be cursing in Russian.

"Get out of the way, human!" He growled, glaring back at him. "…Those pirates blowing up the ship….Bah!"

"Pirates?" Alfred blinked, watching as he went down the hall. "There are pirates even out here?" He raced out of his room, looking out one of the windows. Sure enough, a medium-sized ship was outside his window, cannons aimed right at the ship. "Oh my G—!" The cannons fired, shaking the ship more and sending everyone toppling. Red lights blinked down the hall, a red alert called for the shots in the hull.

"Alfred, what are you doing?! " Tino and Berwald came running down the hall, one looking rather sleepy still, and it wasn't Tino. "I realize you're human, but don't you know what a red alert is?! We're being attacked, and you're a civilian!" He tugged him along, frantically getting his things in place as well. "Ber, dear…I have to go man the guns. Make sure he stays _right here_ with you. He runs off, hit 'im or something." Tino said, straightening his hat and sprinting off. "You can do that, right?"

"Ja, I've got this one…" Berwald nodded. "Be safe. Shoot 'em dead."

Things were getting worse outside, some of the battle scouts were being shot down, and the crew was lessening quickly.

"Tino, get more shots out there! Shoot them down!" Arthur barked, pacing as well. "Yao, tell the scouts to herd them around so we can possibly shoot them down with the super cannon!"

"They've damaged the batteries, and we can't get a good powered shot!" Tino yelled back. "I do realize you're the prince, but if we can't shoot, we're screwed! We're calling your brother, your highness!"

"We're not!" Arthur yelled, stomping off to the mecha hangar. "I'm taking care of this myself!"

Within seconds, he was suiting up and nobody could do anything because they couldn't leave their stations. "Arthur, please think about this!" Kyle was talking into his earpiece, sounding frantic. He was trying to make sure everything wouldn't fall out into space thanks to the gaping hole in the hull.

"I'm thinking I need to get something done!" Arthur growled back, getting himself situated. He turned on the zero gravity sensors, rendering him weightless. After that, he made sure had had the controls for the arms and such all there, testing a bit. "Air Fighter is online, demanding clearance to take off."

"Denied!" Kyle snapped. "Sire, you're going to get yourself captured, maybe killed!"

"Shut up, you…!" He growled back, turning on the thrusters and kick starting the screens bright. Stats and such lined the sides, showing what everything around him was. "I'm going out. Override code Alpha, gamma six. Allow clearance!"

With that, the doors opened for him, letting him rocket out into the free air. Cannons from the pirate ship fired again, just barely missing him. Alfred was watching this from the hallway, being dragged to a safe location. "Hey, dude! Lemme go!"

"Nej, you're staying with me." Berwald wasn't the best babysitter, nor was he going to take Alfred's crap. He slung the smaller body over his shoulder, giving him a small window of time to scramble away on foot. _BANG! _The gravity shields went offline Iin their area, rendering them weightless. This was so much better, letting Alfred float away when Berwald's grip slipped. "Hey!" Alfred was lighter than him in all ways, and could easily get away with his awkward legs. Berwald tried to propel himself closer to Alfred, missing by a lot. The American kept bouncing his way down the hall, making it to a different window.

Arthur's bright red mecha was outside, another mecha outside as well. "Holy…!" Alfred blinked. Another came from the ship, outnumbering Arthur entirely.

"Arthur, get back in here! You're outnumbered! We called Allistor and he sent Liam!" Kyle yelled, the internal functions were failing, being hacked. Everything went dim then, the connections cut.

"Bloody…Idjit…" Arthur growled. Radio connections sputtered, letting in another transmitter.

"Bonjour, Prince~" A flamboyant voice smiled, his face coming on over the screen. His longer blonde hair was in a loose ponytail, and he wore a purple shirt from what Arthur could see. "You're looking quite well…~"

"Shut up, you bugger! What do you want?!"

The man just laughed, shaking his head. "We want all your precious cargo, and anything else of value…So in other words…Surrender or you might be the next dead royal."

Arthur growled not liking this option. "How about this…?" Arthur said coolly. "I just beat the hell out of you and we call it even?"

"No deal~"

"Scoop 'im up, amigo!"

At the moment they tried to seize him, a line of random firing came from the opposite direction, giving Arthur a good chance to send a blow to the other mecha. Debris flew a ways, sending the French-speaking man backwards with a few good curses.

"Francis, are you alright?!"

"Sacre, bleu! What was that?!"

Just then, Back in Black busted over the communications, Alfred's loud voice could be heard hooping and hollering. "Saved your sorry ass!"

"You wanker," Arthur roared, taking care of Francis while Alfred threw cheap shots at the other. "I was just fine by myself!"

"Look, I saw you were having trouble, so being the nosy human I was, I just decided to help out." Alfred shrugged, still getting used to the controls in the small arwing ship. They were similar to fighter jets, so he had a bit of an

"Hon hon hon! It's a human pilot?" Francis grinned. "I've heard things about them!" He reached out in the air, snatching Alfred out of the air. The arwing shook, making the lights and internal batteries flickered as well. "I wonder what you would say to me opening up this little tin can…?"

"Francis, I'm seriously injured…! One of those shots got through my armor…"

"One minute, Francis is doing something…." The man said cruelly, starting to try and get the cockpit open. Alfred was freaking out, crouching down in his seat. One wrong move and Alfred could be dead, and Arthur possibly captured.

"Almost th—!"

"In the name of the royal family, I demand you drop that airship." A loud voice boomed, a set of fabled night-black ships came rolling in, armed to the brims.

"Liam!"

"Liam?!" Alfred echoed. "Is he good?! He's not going to open me up like a can of sardines, is he?!"

"Non, but there's going to be a run-in…" Francis growled, heaving Alfred's little pod in the opposite direction. "Retreat!" Alfred screamed to say the least, the high speed that he was hurled at made his insides churn.

"Oh no you don't!" Arthur growled, getting ready to speed after them as they fled.

"Arthur Ignatius Kirkland, you'd better not." Allistor's voice growled. "Get your crew on the knight ships and we'll get the human. I'm going to beat you senseless…"

"Tch, I'd like to see you try." Arthur growled, breaking in the emergency communications. He sucked in a breath, calming his voice to a monotone. "All the crew of the HMS Traveler, get on the emergency pods and to the Black Knight ships. Arthur, out."

"Good dog." Allistor cooed.

"Brother, you really need to be careful." One of the ships with Liam in it sped off, going to retrieve Alfred. "You'll get yourself killed like this…"

"Your highness, there are not any casualties, but it seems as if Private Williams and a couple others are a little shaken up." Kyle sighed, the gritty transmission reached Arthur's ears, along with Allistor's.

"Good. Oh, and Wy would like to have a word with you." Allistor said. "Make sure you see him before you go."

"Yes, your Majesty." Kyle said quietly. "Sherman out."

~X~

"He threw me…" Alfred shook, trying to get rid of the feeling of being hurled at high speeds. He had been given actual clothes: A blue shirt and clean white pants much like his astronaut's wear. They had pockets, along with a rather nice belt, since Allistor was bigger than Al.

"Oh, you're fine." Tino had resumed his medic spot, since Feliks was busy taking care of Matthew. He had tried to give him a sedative, and it didn't work well. Alfred was deathly afraid of needles, so there was no way to get him to calm.

"H-How were the guns…?"

"Oh…" Tino grinned. "They were great…we'll have to tow the ship home, but my babies are safe."

Alfred sat on his bunk, huddled to himself in a blanket. "So are you and Berwald going to finish snogging then?"

"What?" Tino blinked.

"…When we attacked, you were straightening up your clothes and Berwald looked like he was going to fall asleep." Alfred pointed out. "You guys were about to…"

"Alfred. There's going to be one rule between us." Tino smiled, a little bit of something behind that smile. "Whenever you think you see Berwald and I and you think we've been…'snogging', don't you dare say a word or you're going to have a hole in your human pancreas. Got it? I don't need anyone blurting out about our love life, no matter how proud I am of it."

Alfred was suddenly afraid of him, nodding furiously. "Okay, dude. No problem. I'll shut up here."

"Good." He smiled. "Now, I think Allistor wants to have a word with you. He's been hanging around outside the door for quite some time."

"He has?!" Alfred blinked, looking to the door.

"You can come in, your majesty." Tino called, Allistor came in just as he spoke the last word. "I'll be off so you can talk to him."

"Thank you." Allistor said, pushing back his red hair. He looked nothing like Arthur, save for his darker eyebrows. As Tino left, he sent a bone-chilling glance to Alfred, who sat on the bed. "For a human, you're not bad at arwing fighting."

"Um, thank you." He replied, quickly adding a quick 'Your Highness' at the end.

"You have no need to call me that…you're not of our race, so therefore you can just call me 'sir'." He sighed. "But I'm here to talk to you about your association with us."

"Yeah, what about it? You're not going to kill me, are you?"

Allistor shook his head, looking down at him solemnly. "Telling by your height and stature and exposure to zero gravity…I'd say that it took you about a year to get out past Saturn. Am I right?" Alfred nodded, a small smile coming to Allistor's lips. "That means we should be expecting to see your other humans in a year from now. I'm here to lay down some ground rules for your stay."

"Ground rules?"

"Just listen." He snapped, slight anger flashed across his face. "Damn, you're just as bad as Arthur." Allistor muttered. "First off, you will be staying with the Royal Family. We are not sure which domain you will be living with, but we're sure you'll be taken care of in any way you choose.

"Breakfast, lunch, supper and both teatimes will be served at six, nine, noon, and three. If you come late, you'll have your food served cold. I do not like lateness, nor do I appreciate bad manners."

"Alright, I can handle that…" He had already been getting up at five in the morning to do aerobics, so he was just fine with that, and manners were beaten into him at a young age as well.

"Good. Bathing and hygiene rituals will be discussed with Mei Wang. If you need to bathe, there are indoor hot springs that you can use to your leisure." Allistor said. "Oh, and the guards…don't try to make them crack a smile. They won't interact with you unless you assault them. Then, they will proceed to beat you senseless. Got it?"

"Crystal clear, sir." At this, Allistor cracked a smile, patting him on the head.

"Good boy, I think I have taken liking to you already."

"Umm…Thanks." Alfred said quietly, not sure how to take being petted. Allistor withdrew his hand, frowning again.

"Oh. And don't share sympathies for Arthur. He isn't worth it." He said bluntly. "Supper will be served in fifteen minutes. Be there."

Allistor left him in a bit of confusion. "…Well, I guess there's some family tension…"

~X~

"You damn fool!" _Thwack! _Arthur reeled at the hit, turning his face away. He huffed a few breaths, warm blood trickling from his nose. "You could have killed yourself! Those were the pirates everyone had been bloody watching for! Not only did you risk your life and the life of a human, but you let them flee from the officers!"

"I'm sorry, your highness," Arthur huffed, straightening up and bowing his head respectively, not minding the blood. "It was rash of me, wasn't it?"

Allistor glared and sent another slap to the other side of his face. As he turned away, he grabbed Arthur by the shirt with one hand, growling in his face. "You're lucky I don't beat you into submission, you useless bugger. Even Owen has a better mind than you, and you're barely older than him, you child."

Arthur stared blankly back at him, daring not to show a single emotion. "I'm sorry I cannot be pleasing to you, Allistor. I guess that's because _you _tried to raise me."

Bad move…a very bad move. Allistor threw him to the ground, a hard kick to the ribs was given, causing Arthur to writhe and curl up around the injured area. "You respect me! You don't bloody say those damn things! I only raised you because mother and father were being soft with you! When you were supposed to be jousting and fencing, what were you doing? Making crowns of flowers and practicing magic!" He circled Arthur, keeping with his speech the whole time. "You area worthless attempt at a good child. Father would be horrified at the way you turned out."

"I'm s-sorry…" _Thwak! _Another foot kicked his spine, popping it out of place and causing him to cry out in agony.

"You dirty thing." He rested his foot on Arthur's head, threatening to crush his skull. "If I hadn't promised mum and dad that you'd be okay, I would already have fed you to the hounds." Allistor growled, his voice slipping into a deeper accent. "Be on your best behavior."

"Y-Yessir…" Arthur moaned, trying not to cry. "I-I'll do my very b-best…"

"Good. Now get yourself cleaned up. You look like shit."

~X~

…_I'm sorry if I got to into detail there. It's a good 2000 words for all of you. _

_Arthur got beat up. _

_o u o _


	5. Chapter 5

_Okay, so I'm getting the vibes that we don't like Arthur getting beat up by Allistor, am I right?_

_We're going to be in fair Rona today~_

_I'm just trying to figure out who's oldest. :I I'm thinking it goes like this…_

_~Owen_

_~Allistor_

_~Arthur_

_~Liam_

_A/N: I'm just messing around with music…so i…yeah.. Assassin's Creed musics, and other classical musics are playing while I'm writing… YAY._

_~X~_

The streets were cobblestoned and lined with the odd blue lights that were everywhere. The people stopped for brief moments to look at the passing royal coaches, curious as to why they were coming home so early.

"My people missed me, it seems…" He had long since changed out of his space uniform, and into his 'kingly attire'. Arthur rolled his eyes and kept his Mecha Gear on, rolling his eyes at the idea of changing.

"They only missed you because they want to kiss your feet and tell you how lovely you are…What a lie…" Arthur seemed roughed up today, not looking his best. He had a slight black eye and a small smudge of blood right below his nose, which worried Alfred. He'd ask about it later, but what would he tell him? Allistor shot Arthur a sharp glare, returned with a blank expression. "Sorry my brother. Twas a slip of the tongue."

"Another slip and you're going to fall. Again." Allistor growled, his face unchanging. "I'm sorry about that, Alfred. I don't mean to sound like a bully here…Arthur just has a bit of a loose mouth."

"S'alright…I'm more so interested in what's going on outside. Why's everything all dressed up?"

"It's Independence Days. Today is the second day of the holiday, when we broke out of the Republic of Frence. Their prince, though…We still have connections with him and we keep in touch."

"Oh…" Alfred nodded, noting how the people all waved and smiled. Allistor must have been a good king to be waved at and… He pulled out his IPod again, putting an earbud in.

"Alfred, might I ask what that noise maker is?" Liam asked. He had been quiet most the time, reading a book that he had brought along.

"This?" He asked, accidentally shuffling a song on. "Oh, it's my IPod, it plays music and—"

"Music?" Arthur butted in, frowning. "Sure it's music. I would have known that."

"…Do you guys not have music?"

"We do, ours is just different from the human standard of music." Allistor said. "Instead of artists vocalizing to synthetic beats and instruments, it's just the instruments we have created. We've horns, wood winds, drums…"

"So your music is the classical style?" Alfred blinked. He liked classical music, but…That was it for them?

"…I guess by your standards, that's what it would be." Allistor smiled a little. "Humans are smarter than I thought, it seems…"

"Yeah, we're not all stupid…" He chuckled. "Just…Some don't make good choices and people think they're dumb because of it."

"Indeed…" Down the streets they went in the carriages, getting closer to the castle. It was a huge slate-colored expanse, rendering Alfred speechless. There were small dots of red in the sky above the castle, piquing Alfred's interests.

"What's with the red dots?"

"Owen must be out with his men today…He's got the Dragons out today…Hopefully they won't try and burn down the barn this time…" Liam sighed. "You know how bad it is to replace that?"

"Yes, I'm aware…" Allistor sighed.

"Wait, you said 'dragons', right?" Alfred asked.

Allistor sent him a quizzical look, frowning a bit. "You don't have them on your home?"

"…No. We don't." Alfred said flatly, blinking a couple times. "Not at all."

"Darn. You missed out." Liam replied, smiling a bit. "I'll be sure to tell Owen you'd like to ride."

"What? No no no, you d—"

"You're the guest, you should at least try, Alfred." Allistor gave a half smile that looked more like a smirk, thus shutting Alfred up. "Okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine…totally fine."

Arthur was glaring the whole time, keeping his eyes on Allistor. Inside, he was screaming. How could he be so flirtatious like that? Was that just a ruse so Alfred didn't see the red-haired monster he was? Liam was just going along with it, talking with the American Astronaut about the flying experience. He felt as if his chest was about to burst, his fists were shaking in his lap. He quickly looked out the window, biting at the tip of his thumb. _"Allistor, I bloody hate you…_" He insulted him in his mind, because God knew that he'd be beaten again if he said it out loud.

"You know, I never knew you and Arthur were brothers. I would have never guessed, actually." Al said quietly.

"Hm? I can explain…when a woman here is to have a baby, she spends a lot of time alone." Allistor said. "You see, the child is effected by what he or she is around in the first few months of their life, so what's around them shapes them into what they look like." He smiled slightly again, Arthur grunted and opened the window, sticking his head out. "I was born during a war, and so I saw a siege upon the castle, giving me my red hair. Owen was born during a relatively bleak time, so his features are a little darker. Liam and Arthur were born during peace times, so their features are fairer…Then there's Peter…"

"I thought you'd never talk about him, Allistor." Arthur called from out the window.

"Hush you." Allistor snapped. "Peter is an illegitimate child of our family, after having a night with one of the royal armada's medics…she had Peter, and he was around said medic for a while…so he looks more like them, save for the family brows."

"Yeah…Fun stuff. You pluck yours, though, and that's not fair." Arthur added.

"At least I don't rush into battle." He retorted in a calm manor. "Now, get back in here, it'd be a shame if we sped up and hit a light pole and you got hurt."

Arthur snarled and pouted, pulling himself back in. "It'd be better than…" He muttered, not finishing his sentence.

Alfred soon got the idea that Allistor and Arthur didn't get along well. They were almost at the castle now, so it didn't really matter now, right?

~X~

_Memory 005_

"_Arthur, you're really worthless. You are. I can't tell you how upset I am because of your actions." Allistor growled, pacing in front of him. Arthur was sitting on the ground making flower crowns, trying to keep his shaking hands busy._

"_I'm sorry brother…" His nose was dripping red, the color showing in his mind's theatre. "I didn't mean to, I just…"_

"_I know you didn't mean to." He calmed a little, stopping his pacing. "I'm sorry I hit you, I was just angry."_

"…_You're always angry…" Arthur looked up at Allistor, who loomed over him. He seized the younger one's cheeks, pinching rather hard. Arthur started crying, only making him pull more. "S-Stop! That hurts!" _

"_Allistor?" A feminine voice called, making Allistor stop and hug his brother. _

"_Mum, Arthur hurt himself again, he's got a bloody nose." Allistor said quickly, looking up at his mother, Queen Emily. She had long braided hair, and resembled Owen (and soon to be Liam). _

"_Here…I'll take him." She sighed, picking up the crying child. "Shh…Arthur, it's okay, mum's got you…"_

_Arthur was bawling too much to really care that Emily was holding him, but graciously accepted her shoulder to cry into. She then pulled out her handkerchief out and put it to Arthur's nose. "How'd this happen?"_

"_He just fell wrong and hurt his face, mum. He's lucky you came around…"_

"_Indeed…thank you for watching him, Allistor. He's had a rough week, hasn't he?" She said quietly, turning and leaving with Arthur. As soon as her back was turned, Arthur's eyes went to Allistor, who was glaring. _

_The beatings only got worse from there; every mistake was greeted with a hit to the face and verbal lashings. By ten, he hated his brother. He became a spiteful person, angry all the time and wanting to rush things. _

_It was all the fault of his 'dear brother'. _

_[END OF MEMORY] _

~X~

"So, this'll be your quarters for a while." One of the handmaids introduced Alfred to his room, and as soon as he saw it, his jaw went slack. "I assume you've never had a room like this?"

"Only in a hotel on my way to Florida…" Alfred said quietly, going inside. The bed was the first thing he noticed: Very plush, bright red sheets made of what looked like silk, and to top it off, there were little chocolates on the pillow. To Alfred, after a year of space food, this place had won his stomach.

"Now, there's a master bathroom, a small sauna and a cooler of refreshments in this room. There's a closet on the South wall, and a closet of clothes. Allistor decided to be gracious and gave you a couple of his dress shirts, since Owen's a little larger and Arthur…he's just plain small."

"Oh, thanks…" He plopped on the bed, almost instantly falling asleep. "This is the life…"

~X~

"Sire…Do you really think he'll last long enough to send him home?" Eduard asked, attending to the ledgers of the library. Allistor was trying to find something to do away with his idle time, deciding on some recent title. "There's been rumor of another breakout of The Burning."

Allistor looked up, turning to him. "If he dies, he dies. It's a part of life. Maybe since he's human, it will take him faster."

"How can you say that, though? Isn't it a bit cruel to think something like that?"

"I see no cruelty in it, Eduard," Allistor replied with a bored tone. "If it happens, it happens, and the only thing we can do is either mercy kill him or give him something to ease the pain."

"A-Alright, sire…" Eduard noted, gulping a little. "I'll be sure to remember that."

"Good. Now, how are the funds doing here? Are the revenues good?"

"As always, sire." He sighed, finishing up. "Although, I'd advise you to cut back a bit on…What is this?"

"…Recreation. It's not any of your concern, so you'd best leave it." He said flatly, not showing any concern for it. "I'll be sure to 'cut back' as you say. Save myself a few Shils."

"…Eight million Shills every quarter i—"

"Eduard von Bok, I told you to leave it." He said in a slightly agitated tone. "I'll take care of it myself, so therefore I don't need you mentoring me on the subject, are we clear?"

Eduard just sat there, ink nib dripping on the table. "A-Alright." He nodded, packing up his things. "Has Owen taken care of his ledgers in the Dragon's Stalls?"

"Last I knew, he did. Go bother him…" He ran his hand through his hair, picking up a book and looking it over. "Hopefully it'll take a while."

Eduard nodded and quickly headed off, running a bit. Most of the castle staff had double jobs, and Eduard was no exception. He was part-time flight crew, and then had finances on top of that. He knew there was a lot of money in the Royal Family, that's why the halls were white marble with gold trim and silver lining, the floors were red granite, and there were paintings all over the place—all of which had great worth. The chandeliers had diamonds the size of grapefruits dangling from them, suspended by gold plated chains.

Everything looked like the stereotype for a fairytale, and it was just that. Plush, rich and decadent.

There were oak beams holding up the shingled roofs in the dragon stalls were a little shabby, thanks to the residents themselves. They were mostly red, except for one black dragon with firey blue eyes. He hissed at Eduard, growling slightly. "Ack!" He exclaimed jumping out of the way of a stray ember flew his way. "O-Owen?! Are you in here?!"

"Yes, I'm in here, God…" Owen groaned, getting up from a stack of hay. "I was just napping, Eduard…"

"I-I'm sorry, Allistor sent me to get one of the ledgers, and I…Um…yeah, I just need the ledgers before I get cooked to a crisp by your dragon."

"Ampora? Naw, he woudn't…" Owen shrugged, idly walking over to the small open-air office with a post-office style desk. He pulled out a thick folder, handing it to Eduard. "There you go," He nodded. "Last year's things are right here~"

"L-Last year's?! What about this year's?"

"It's in there, too. What's the problem here?"

"I-I just…this'll take forever to go through!"

"…Well, looks like you've got a late night."

~X~

Arthur lay in his room this time, feeling less beaten and annoyed for once. He went through his mental list of things to do today, since his ship was being towed home and docked. _'I must get my mecha fixed, that bastard damaged it…I have to go get some things from the store…' _He rolled over and lay on his back, brows furrowed in thought. "Something's amiss…" Arthur muttered, trying to figure out what was wrong. He ran his fingers through his hair, patted his face, shoulders, chest, nothing wrong there. "I might want to go stop in and see the medics…"

A small knock came from outside, followed by the voice of Peter. "Arthur, you in there?" He must have been visiting again while his parents were working—Of all the damned things to happen, he was _not _playing babysitter for Tino again. Arthur remained quiet, closing his eyes and laying on the bed. The knocking continued followed by whining. "Come on, I know you're in there! You meanie jerkface!" The small insults came, some were so incredibly lame they almost made him laugh. _Almost. _"Maybe he's not in there…" Peter sighed. "I just wanted to play, that's all…"

At the sound of feet leaving his door, Arthur sat up, smirking to himself. "Typical."

Then through the door came Peter, roaring and pouncing on him. "I found you! You bloody turd! I thought you weren't here!"

"That was the point!" Arthur yelled, trying to pry the ten year old off. "Get off me!"

"No! Nej!" Peter whined, clinging to Arthur. He succeeded in getting up and dropping him on his bed, for fear of what Berwald would do if he threw him and he got hurt. "Hey!"

At that moment, Arthur bolted, running down the halls with the kid quickly in tow behind him. "Stop following me, you booger!"

"Arthur come back!" Peter was lagging behind, ducking in a corridor, hoping to cut him off some other way. The prince quickly then jumped out of a corridor window, landing on the lower rooftop of the chapel that was below. People of Rona could do this easily, and he had some experience with sneaking out. The slate and stone roofing wouldn't let him fall through, so he was safe for now. Peter came to the window, whining. "That's not fair!"

"Goodbye, you little dragon crusty!" Arthur gloated, strolling down the roof. "Better try next time!" When at the far end of the chapel, he hopped down, his toes slightly numbed from jumping from at least twenty feet up. The last twelve feet were nothing, but a small groan of discomfort left him as he stretched. "So I'm not going to visit the medics for a bit, it seems…" He wandered out to the garden, or more so the 'half-alive, half-dead grouping of plants'. There was a tall patch of mums that he used to lay in and the orange and yellow colors usually covered him up. Even now if he curled up, the blooms could still hide him. So like he did when he was younger, he crawled in and lay down, looking at the clear blue sky.


	6. Chapter 6

_Sorry I haven't updated much, I've been busy and lost interest for a bit. But I'm back! Somewhat._

* * *

Arthur eventually did get to the medics, Tino was doing a quality check on the medications and vaccines, making sure that they were all in good condition and that they still worked. Berwald was in the back, balancing some sort of check book...was it theirs? Either way, Arthur stopped in the doorway and knocked gently. "'Ello?" He called, startling Tino from his work.

"Oh hello, your highness!" He beamed, breaking out into a bit of a smile. "I didn't notice you there-What brings you down here?"

"I need a checkup, and a thorough one. Something's wrong, and I need it fixed." He said bluntly, striding as he pulled off some clothing.

"Sire, I-I really think that you shouldn't..." Tino sputtered, glancing at Berwald. "Ber, keep watch out here, I'll take the prince to the exam room...!" He pushed Arthur along, smug with gaining his way. The nurse pulled Arthur into the exam room, shaking his head at him. "What's wrong with you now?" He asked, furrowing his brows. "It's not another case of the Iralian Measles, is it?" He was referring to the date that Arthur was _absolutely sure_ he had contracted the disease and wanted every vaccination done on that afternoon.

"No, something's wrong, I can feel it. It makes my skin crawl." The prince said, sitting on the exam table. "I want a full body check both manually and by the computer...I want to know why I feel like I'm becoming ill, and I want to know now." He demanded.

"Arthur, you can't go on thinking that you're sick when you're not...you'll draw attention to yourself, and we know how that goes. Your brother will..."

"He'll have a tantrum."

"That, and he'll be upset with you." Tino shook his head, readying for the inspection. He pulled on a pair of sterile gloves, arching an eyebrow. "Strip yourself if you want to continue this...I hope you'll realize you're not sick."

"There'll be something..." Arthur pulled off his clothes, not caring for Tino's blank expression at the sight of him. The smaller man had seen it all, having to do almost routine inspections, and having been their family's nurse for so long. He knew that Allistor beat on him, and that he had one long scar that ran down his back when he tried to shield his other brother from an attack.

"Alright...I'll do the scan first, then we'll do this manually...no matter how much I hate it." Tino brought up a small device, a small laser light scanned him up and down, then Arthur turned around, and it did the same. "Med scan says you're fine...for the most part, but we know what's wrong there."

"...And for the exam?"

"Arthur, if you weren't my prince, I'd kill you for this..." He sighed, ordering for him to sit down. It was a fifteen minute exam, in which Tino had to check every orifice and every cranny to settle Arthur's claims. In the end, there was nothing wrong. Tino stripped his gloves off, shaking his head. "Everything about you is alright, and you're just fine. Your genitalias seem to be fine as well, but...you're a bit..."

"Bit what?" He asked, furrowing his brows as he dressed himself.

"...Your penis is shrinking and I'm afraid you're going to turn into your female side. That's exactly what's wrong." Tino threw his gloves away, shrugging a bit. "There's nothing I can do, it's just one of two things: A, it's temporary and you're going to become normal again, or B, you're going back to your natural gender. Arthur, you weren't meant to be a man, I hope you know."

"But that's what I am now, and that's final." He snapped, not liking the diagnosis. "I just hope to God Allistor doesn't find out. He'll murder me."

"You were born that way, that's not a problem. It's only a problem because your brother might be jealous or find you disturbing." Tino pulled together some things, cleaning up after himself in the exam room. "There have been other bi-gendered royals in this family that I have seen, and it's not a problem to anyone if you just accept it."

"But why me?" Arthur shook his head, sitting back down on the exam table. "Why Arthur? Arthur already has enough problems in his life."

"Arthur...you don't realize one important thing; Your mother..."

"My mother?" He echoed, looking up at him. "What about mother?"

Shaky to tell him, Tino looked at the ceiling and sighed. "Your mother was the one to pass the gene to you. She was perfectly female, and your grandmother-or should I say grandfather was the one to bear it first. It was a mutation that couldn't be stopped, and the gene is pretty...it's out there. Instead of the normal genes this planet, you've got one X, one Y, and a V gene. V, because it varies and cancels out one or the other out. It's trying to cover up the Y gene at the moment, hence why you're becoming..."

"I don't want...I don't want to hear this." Arthur muttered, getting up and leaving. "I'm a man, I'll always be a man, and that's that."

Tino sighed, walking out after him. Berwald looked up from his book at him, arching an eyebrow. "Did it go badly?"

"Ber, he's...you remember Queen Elizabeth?"

"Ja?"

"He's got the Variable."

* * *

[Memory of Allistor: Number Eleven]

_The skies were red. There were enemy ships up above him, and the blurry memory slurred in his mind. He wasn't very old, no. He could hear people screaming, children crying and the sound of dragons roaring loudly. He himself had started to cry, carried around by his mother in the courtyard. His father was fighting something, his loud and heavy plasma axe swinging, the pale blue color stood out from the grey. His mother was trying to back away, being grabbed up and dragged. Owen was close by, clinging to her dress, so much was going on. _

_"Get the kids to the war cavern! I don't want them to see this!" Someone yelled, Owen yelled something about 'Papa!' Owen's dark hair could be seen as he was picked up, Allistor's small baby form was crying non stop. Red hairs were starting to sprout, eyes taking a violent green underneath his eyelids. Everything from there was getting blurrier, nothing else making much sense._

[Memory of Allistor: Number Eleven End]

* * *

Alfred was pretty content here. There was a weight room, he found. Not like the one at home, but something to still do. He could freely walk along the corridors and do squats and lunges, and jog the non-populated halls. He had to keep fit, so he thought, and this was the time to do it. He played music on his IPod non stop, not hearing many of the voices around him.

"_...Na na na na, na na na, na na na na-na na, na na na na..." _He sang to himself, enjoying the sound. Little did they know, California didn't end up like the wasteland it was in the music video, and there wasn't an outbreak of the Better Living Industry...But Alfred still liked calling himself a part-time Killjoy. Along with a few other things from the groups he listened to.

"Alfred?" Someone called, the voice bringing him out of his music and to a halt. Looking back, there stood Allistor, peeking out of his library. "...You're the notorious hall jogger, aren't you?"

The American cracked a smile, although his face said embarrassment. "You hear me singin'?"

"No, I hear your footsteps over my work." He chuckled, stepping out of the room of books. "You seem to not like using the Athletics Chamber?"

"Nah, too stuffy, really." Running a hand through his blonde hair, he snagged his headphones and wound them up, the music still playing. It was loud enough to catch Allistor's attention, his bright eyes focusing in on the little speakers. "Oh, I forgot to turn that off..." He muttered, going to pause the music.

"No...Can I...hear some?" The redhead asked, genuinely curious of the sound that poured out.

"Sure thing...Just let me turn it down a bit." He unwound the earbuds, handing one to Allistor and then turning it down a few notches and turning the song back to the beginning point. The king put the tiny speaker to his ear, blinking and focusing on the sound, eventually closing his eyes. Alfred could tell when the vocals came in, the initial shock of hearing words so loud-even if they were just 'Na' for a few measures-jolted him a little.

"This 'music' as you call it...who is that speaking in tune?" He asked, listening a bit more.

"The group that is playing is called-or was called, rather- 'My Chemical Romance'. Do you like them?"

"No. The main singer sounds like he's smoked too much. There's too much emotion in the voice, it sounds like he's upset or had something happen to him. The guitars are too loud, they're too distorted. The music is not pure enough. Just too much."

"...That's how it's supposed to be, though. When you sing, you put in some emotion so you don't sound like a rock." He said. "...Anyways, he's been through a bit, but...hey, that's just human music for you." He said, taking back the ear bud and pausing the music. "Hey, there's different stuff you might like, though."

"I'll take a hearing later, then..." Allistor nodded, arching an eyebrow. "Much...much later." He wore a cat like smile, something that shouldn't even happen with his face.

"That's alright with me, but...I'd like to get back to jogging, maybe?"

"Oh, right...on with you. Maybe you could help me get back into shape as well," He started, leaning a bit on his other foot. "You have high stamina, yes?"

"Well, sure. I mean, I've been in space for for a while, but I think I'm pretty alright." Alfred nodded, taking pride in his physical condition.

"Good, good..." Allistor's expression turned into a smirk, reaching up to pat and cup Alfred's face a bit. "I might ask you to exercise me a bit, luv." Alfred was a bit surprised at this, grinning a bit and moving away from the hand.

"Ah, thanks...I'd love that, I mean...it gets kinda lonely when you're running by yourself, and I think it'd be cool to have a running buddy." He grinned. Obviously he wasn't getting the message between the lines. You see, it was getting rather close to mating season here, but Allistor wasn't going to tell him that. Most just waved it off and continued, but some others more attuned to the moons of the planet were driven mad by such lust and need to participate in coidice. One of the mad ones was Allistor, no doubt. His other brothers, being in the same family had the same problems, and young women would be willing to be with them if they were feeling the same madness. Cuddling or being close would suffice most of the time, but if it got worse...well...three days of the Mating season were well spent extinguishing the flame of lust for the time being until the next season.

"Right..." He said, almost purring. "Stop by sometime."

The rest of the run was alright, save for the little odd chat. Shaking it off as a little invite to jog, Alfred ended the run with a stop in the kitchen that ended with 'Holiday'. He realized really how much music he had from the end of the nineties and started up in the 2000's, then the mass amount of classical and game-related music. Either way, it was nice to have that bit of music from home. Finishing up with a mighty fine peach, it was time to take an afternoon nap. Ah...this was great.

* * *

_On Earth..._

"You've got to find him, please!" Anya was getting desperate, almost yelling at the NASA engineers. The worried woman was almost to tears after seeing what had gone on in space. "H-He has to be okay, right?!"

"Miss Braginski, I don't know what's going on, nor can I disclose the information to you." The attendant said, shaking his head a bit. The Russian let tears fall from her eyes, mascara dripping down her cheeks.

"D-Damn you! Damn you all!" She sputtered out, furrowing her brows and stomping out of the building. Anya knew they knew was going on, and she wanted a second opinion on what she heard. "Stupid Americans..." Getting back into her car she hissed, starting up and peeling out of the parking spot. "I'll just have to call bigger brother...Da, that's a good idea...Kurt would have a good way to get into the NASA base..." She muttered, nodding to herself. "Yes...we'll find out where Fredka is, we'll get him home, and it'll all be okay...we'll get married...and it'll be okay, because he still loves me...he still does..."


End file.
